On the radio after No. 2 Pittsburg State's 43-25 home loss to No. 9 Washburn today, head coach Tim Beck insisted the team's bye last week didn't have anything to do with the Gorillas' play.

I'm not so sure. I'm fairly confident the offense forgot they had a game to play. Zac Dickey and company only racked up 60 yards and two first downs in the first half and Pitt didn't put up any offensive points until a little more than nine minutes to play in the game.

But by then, Pitt was already down 37-13 thanks to the Gorilla special team squad forgetting that when the opposing team kicks off, you need to CATCH THE BALL.

Washburn had capped a 14-play drive with a field goal to go up 30-13, and when Jeremy Linn kicked a short high kick into the southern wind, Pitt State just kinda stood around and watched it. I mean, it's a pretty thing and all, but not necessarily worth the gawking going on on the field.

The ball bounced near the Pitt 28 and John Thomas leapt to grab it, did but was nailed by Willie Williams and fumbled it away. A nice effort by Thomas, putting himself in harm's way to go grab the ball, but an overall bad play by the Pitt return team.

And the worst part? IT HAPPENED AGAIN. This time, it was after a Justin Cooper 74 yard touchdown run that was set up by a blown missed call by the refs on Pitt's fourth-down attempt and the score was 43-25. The game was probably out of reach by then, with just a tad over four minutes to play, but seriously, how do you let a kickoff hit the ground like that, TWICE, in such a big game? Pitt didn't even get their hands on this one, Washburn recovered and ran off enough clock to seal the game before failing on a fourth and goal from the one yard line.

Let's go back to the missed pass interference call. On Twitter, some are already calling me a "hater" because I think it was indeed a blown call. Nope. I think it was pass interference. Plan and simple.

Washburn was clearly the better team today, but for a moment there, it looked like Pitt was about to get back within one score. After falling down 37-13, Pitt had finally woken up. John Brown, who had earlier returned a kickoff 102+ yards but only got credit for 100, had caught back-to-back touchdown tosses from Dickey with a successful onside kick (Pitt recovered 1st attempt, but penalty re-kick, Washburn recovered pooch, but WU penalty forced re-kick, then Pitt recovered the onside kick) in the middle, and Washburn fumbled back to Pitt on the next drive to give the Gorillas a serious chance of getting back into it.

There was a little more than seven minutes to play, and after a first down, Pitt faced a fourth and 10 from the Washburn 25. Andrew Castaneda ran a short route and was bumped when Dickey threw him the ball. Had he caught it clean, it very well likely would have been short of the first down, but the contact was there and it should have been called.

I feel kind of bad for Pitt State and their fans. Who knows what would have happened had a yellow flag came flying in that play, but the Gorillas clearly had ALL the momentum and plenty of time to make things happen. Unfortunately, they didn't get the chance.

I picked a Pitt win, mainly because I thought Washburn QB Dane Simoneau would have a slow start. I was right. He looked off early, particularly on the deep ball, but Pitt's offensive inadequacies more than allowed for a little recovery time for the league's best quarterback.

Overall, it was a great game in the Jungle. Pitt had their chances, early and late, but Washburn took home the victory. The crazy thing about it all is this wasn't even the best game in the conference.

Northwest stuffed in St. Joseph Missouri Western 31 Northwest Missouri 28

No, I didn't forget. And no, I'm not going to NOT talk about perhaps the biggest win in Missouri Western history. The fact is, I don't know anything about it. So I'm going to go study the box score, read the recaps and hit up some online coverage of the game, and I'll be back with an update to this post later tonight. (We get an extra hour of sleep tonight, so why not burn it by covering D2 Football, right?)

Okay, I'm back. First off, congratulations to Travis "Formerly-known-as-Little-P" Partridge. You have earned your keep, my friend. At 8-2, Missouri Western is all of a sudden right in the thick of the playoff chase. Heck, they could even host a game in St. Joe!

Secondly, is going for it on fourth down and goal from the one yard line down 31-28 early in the fourth quarter the right call? I say no. I get it, but I still say no. I'm interested to know what you think. Leave a comment, @ me on Twitter or e-mail me [email protected] to tell me if you think the Bearcats should have done that.

They did, and David Bass, the lock for MIAA defensive player of the year, stopped Jordan Simmons for a three-yard loss.

Third, Missouri Western fans should be preparing a card for the morons that run Nebraska-Omaha. Their complete disregard for student athletes allowed the Griffons to schedule cupcake Langston earlier this year, an easy win who doesn't hurt strength of schedule because they're not a Division II opponent, AND it gave them kicker Greg Zurlein, who nailed field goals of 53 and 58 (both, mind you, with a stiff wind at his back, but still!) yards.

And finally, what the heck happened to Northwest in the fourth quarter? This is a team that makes a living nailing in coffins in the final frame, yet they could only muster up 80 yards on four drives that ended in two turnovers on downs, a fumble and a punt.

Back to Partridge - I still think you're playing with fire when you have a 'game-managing' quarterback who runs more than he passes (Dickey's Pitt team today case in point), but on days like today, for Missouri Western, it didn't matter.

What else happened?

Elsewhere in the MIAA, UCM took care of business in St. Charles, Mo., knocking off Lindenwood 47-28. UCM had already locked up a bowl game appearance, but nothing happened today to make me think they have any shot at the playoffs.

And in the only game that had absolutely no bearing on anything postseason, Truman State steamrolled Lincoln 53-0.

Here's where things get dicey. With their 39-24 win over Southern today, 4-6 Fort Hays moves to 3-5 in the conference and a virtual tie with Emporia (5-5, 3-5) for 6th place in the MIAA. Why does this matter?

Bowl Games

It's a VERY real possibility, with the way things worked out today, that the MIAA gets four teams into the playoffs. With two bowl games picking up the conference's leftovers, that means.... well, it's hard to say. For this to make sense, you have to understand the bowls' selection criteria is conference record, NOT overall record, sort of... Just read on, I think it will make sense.

Let's say all the favorites win next week in the games that matter for MIAA postseason - Northwest over Emporia, Western over Hays, Washburn over Central, Pitt over Central. We'll probably get those four teams in, Central ends at 7-4 with their choice of bowl games and it goes to Hays next.

As I told you last week, the Mineral Water Bowl's contract with the MIAA says the conference must provide a team that's above .500. If Central picks to go to the Kanza, and that's just if - as Mineral Water is closer to home and is going to be able to offer a pretty decent opponent - then the Mineral Water has options.

They can stick to plan, and go with Hays, though they don't have to. Emporia, at 5-6 is a little more attractive, though still not a winning team, but within their options. Heck, they picked a 5-6 Pitt State team a year ago. Or they could venture outside the conference.

When I spoke with Mineral Water Bowl officials last year about this very topic, one thing was made clear. They want someone who's going to be able to bring some fans. So in-state seems the best options. Southwest Baptist? A confirmed possibility last year, but they might be coming off a four-game losing streak. Lindenwood? Hey, who knows. They'll be no worse than 7-4.

Okay, so if you're Emporia, all you have to do is beat Northwest and you're in right? Wrong, maybe. Yes, that'd put Emporia at 6-5 and the MIAA would then be able to fill their contract, but another Northwest loss might just knock them out of the playoffs, thus bumping the whole Emporia-Hays-whoever they want conversation off the wall.

Now remember, the Kanza Bowl doesn't have that stipulation in their contract, so if we get four teams in, and Central picks the Mineral Water Bowl, the Kanza goes with whoever finishes next in the conference standings. Hays if they and Emporia either both win or both lose, or Emporia if the Hornets win and the Tigers lose.

Well, that's a whole lot of speculation. Isn't that fun? What do you think will happen? Let me know!